Business News

A global software platform that manages healthcare professionals’ clinics, consolidates patient records and “matchmakes” doctors with patients has chosen Cork as its European HQ.
HealthKit, founded in Australia and which operates in 50 countries, already has more than 400 Irish-based GPs, psychologists and other health professionals using its practice-management software.
The company, which is targeting 100,000 practitioners across the world by next year, will use Ireland to serve clients in Europe and Africa and will target expansion here in the private healthcare and elder care sectors according to HealthKit co-founder Alison Hardacre.

“Health is the last industry to be digitised,” said Hardacre, who confirmed Cork as Healthkit’s new European HQ at the 8th annual Dell Women Entrepreneur’s Network (DWEN) in San Francisco.
HealthKit provides software on the cloud that integrates patient records, invoices, bookings, financial reports as well as helping patients manage and share their clinical records and search for doctors and specialists.

“The biggest issue in healthcare everywhere is a structural one,” said Hardacre. “Doctors don’t need more patients, they’re busy enough with the patients that they’ve got, whereas we as consumers and patients need more appointments – there’s a matching of need.
“Digitisation in healthcare hasn’t yet benefited doctors or consumers, so let’s solve that and make health better everywhere.”

DWEN, Dell’s prestigious business summit for female entrepreneurs, welcomed its first Irish-based founders last week in San Francisco, including Glencove chief executive Kate Hyde.
Julie Brien and Dr Roisin Molloy, co-founders of Trimedika, the Belfast-based medical device firm that is set to bring a new non-touch infrared thermometer to market later this year, also attended DWEN.

Hardacre, a former ANZ banker who speaks six languages, including Irish, said that HealthKit chose Ireland not because of tax benefits but because of its “tech savvy, multilingual workforce” and high educational standards.
“The growth for us in Europe is phenomenal, our European network is really important,” said Ms Hardacre who will initially recruit customer service, sales and regional managerial staff for its new Cork HQ.